Race leader directed to 'cool it'

Date: January 14 2013

Samantha Lane

CYCLING Australia was spared the embarrassment of a seven-man race in the headline event of the national road championships, but not before a serious scare.

With the nervous national president of the sport looking on, the chief judge for the elite men's road race issued a warning to the peloton that 134 riders would be eliminated if the gap to seven leaders exceeded 10 minutes.

When a group of seven - Bernard Sulzberger, Pat Shaw, Blair Windsor, Cameron Bayly, James Mowatt, James Szolllosi and Durbridge - charged ahead from 141 starters, the eventual winner didn't imagine they could stay away.

But when the race leaders gained seven minutes and 30 second on the peloton before the 40-kilometre mark of the 196-kilometre race, the chief judge issued a warning that if the gap exceeded 10 minutes the chase group would be eliminated.

The announcement by chief commissaire Greg Griffiths caused the sports director of Orica-GreenEDGE, Matt Wilson, to instruct Durbridge to cool the pace. Wilson's direction served a dual purpose as it would not have been wise for his team to lose 10 riders from the event, despite the fact that Durbridge looked so comfortable.

''We were a bit concerned about that because it looks really bad for the race,'' Wilson said. ''So we just told him to take it easy, to not get to more than 10 minutes.''

While the peloton responded by quickly bringing the gap down to within six minutes, none from the chase group ever made touch with the early leaders and, in a memorable finish, Durbridge rode the final 10.2-kilometre lap of Mount Buninyong solo.

The same time rule, which is set by cycling's world governing body, the UCI, threatened to ruin the road race at the world championships in Melbourne in 2010.

Wilson said it was not a result of the changes to the course: ''No, it just happens in cycling.''

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